Case Study
The definition of partnership

Taking the risk out of a new digital experience.

Mesirow Financial is an independent, 80-year-old firm owned by their employees. Authenticity and accessibility are their core brand pillars. After developing a new brand platform, Mesirow needed a client-centric web experience that mimicked the new look, exuded the same level of authenticity of their hometown Midwestern roots, and provided clients with easy access to information.

A web experience as authentic as they are

Growth Strategy

Mesirow had done the heavy lifting creating a new brand in print and materials. Now they had a tight window to make the brand come alive digitally. Mesirow needed a mobile

responsive website that was user friendly, focused on client solutions, and was embedded with robust analytics to help gauge and improve the experience going forward.

A true design partnership

Experience Design

Since time was of the essence, we leveraged Mesirow’s internal resources and collaborated with their entire team to meet their deadline. We took inventory of their new visual assets and the Experience Design department did a comprehensive audit of their new brand, web pages in development, and the UX designed up to that point. Verndale consulted on colors and fonts, layouts, animations, the development strategy, and then ultimately designed the most complex pages.

Technology Enablement

Verndale built a new implementation of the EPiServer Experience Management Platform, leading a co-design and co-development effort that ran parallel with Mesirow’s internal marketing, design and technology departments. We also trained Mesirow’s internal IT team on the new platform. With this approach, we condensed a two-phase project into one, saving both time and money.

Experience Optimization

The Mesirow project was a testament to the power of constant internal and external collaboration to accelerate progress. We advised them on best practices, co-designed with their lead designer, and educated them on how to expand and maintain their new brand standards in a digital world. We also consulted with Mesirow after the content load and launch to quality control and make sure everything looked and worked as planned. Mesirow signed on for an additional 100 hours of post-launch support to keep the partnership rolling.

Results

One of our most successful site launches to date. In sixteen weeks we designed and implemented a new and expandable digital experience that is still thriving. Mesirow Financial now has a compelling and engaging web presence that’s competitive with the industry and showcases its brand identity more effectively.